Tell Me A Story
by TheSeer
Summary: Roxas didn't believe everything his big brother told him. It would be nice if that stuff were true. But there isn't any magic, and you can't really send a letter in a bottle to someone far away. SoRiKai in the background.


It was getting dark when the little boat came up to the town dock. Roxas jumped out with the bowline to tie it off to the cleat. A stray lock of spiky hair got in his eyes as he was trying to remember the knot; irritated, he puffed it up out of the way. When he was done, Sora had already gotten the sternline.

"Good knot, Rox. Come on, Mom will have dinner waiting."

Roxas looked up the tall hill, into town, and sighed.

"What's so _huffff_?" Sora said, doing a silly bigger version of Roxas' sigh.

"My legs are tired."

"I'll bet. Mine too," Sora said. "C'mere." He turned his back to Roxas and crouched down. Roxas hopped on his back, grabbing around Sora's neck with his arms and around his waist with his legs. Sora's big hands held him by his knees, and he stood up and started walking home. Roxas' new sneakers bounced against Sora's hips.

"You've got big feet, starfish," Sora said.

"I do not." Then Roxas thought of a better answer. "Anyway, they're not as big as yours, 'cause you've got," he paused, so he'd remember exactly, "'ginormous boat feet.'"

"Hey!" Sora said, but he was only pretending to be angry. "Who told you that?"

"Kairi."

"Well, if you keep listening to Kairi, I'm gonna have to carry you around upside down, starfish."

"Hmph. Don't call me that."

"But you look like a starfish, starfish."

"Do not!"

"Do so. A big yellow starfish. It's 'cause you're so short, all I ever see's the top of your head."

"_So-_ra!"

They were home. "Duck," Sora said, as they went through the door. "We're home!"

"Welcome back," Mom called. "Go wash your hands, boys. Supper's almost ready."

"Okay, Roxas, down you go," Sora said. They went and washed their hands, then went into the dining room.

"Sora!" Mom called.

Two spiked heads turned at the same time. "Yeah, Mom?" they said together.

"Oh," Mom sighed, "I mean little Sora. Set the table, hon?"

"Okay," Roxas said. While he was counting out the forks and spoons, he said, "You should just call me Roxas, Mom. It's easier."

"Sora's a perfectly nice name," Mom said. Then, to the real Sora - big Sora - she said, "He got that line from you, you know. Word for word."

"He does that," Sora said. "Anyway, he's right, it's easier to call him Roxas. And he likes it."

"Oh, you two. Here, take some potholders and carry this out."

-o-

Roxas didn't really know why he and Sora had the same name. Sora had a story about it, but Roxas wasn't sure he believed it.

"Well, a long time ago, Mom and Dad had a baby, and that was me. And Mom said, 'Oh, if I ever had a boy I wanted to name him Sora,' and Dad said 'Oh, that's a great name, honey,' and so they called me Sora.

"And then I got big, and I went away on an adventure, and I was gone soooo long that Mom and Dad forgot all about me. And then they had another baby, and that was you. And Mom said, "Oh, if I ever had a boy I wanted to name him Sora,' and Dad said, 'Oh, that's a great name, honey,' and so they called _you_ Sora, because they didn't remember I was already named that.

"And then finally I got back, and here was this little blond baby called Sora, and I said 'I can't call _him_ Sora, _I'm_ Sora. So I just called you Roxas."

Roxas thought this might not be a real story, though, because Mom and Dad wouldn't forget either of them, even if they were gone for a million years. But Kairi and Riku said it was true, and Mom and Dad wouldn't say it was made up, like they did for all Sora's other stories.

-o-

"So, did you boys have fun on the kids' island?" Dad asked.

"Yup," Roxas said.

"Just 'yup' isn't polite dinner conversation, son."

"Sorry Dad," Roxas said, but then he had to yawn. "Sora said he might help me make my own tree fort."

"Ha, you really wore him out," Dad said to Sora.

"That was the plan," Sora said cheerfully.

"I like that plan," Dad said quietly, like it was a joke Roxas wasn't supposed to hear.

"Stop that," Mom said, like she knew he'd heard.

Anyway, after Roxas finished eating, Mom said he could be excused to go have a bath, which was okay because he was all salty from swimming anyway. And then he went ahead and laid down on his bed. He didn't want to go to _sleep_, of course, his legs were just tired. And he was only in his pyjamas because Mom would be mad if he got his dirty clothes back on after a bath.

Roxas had the top bunk, so he could look up at night and see all the glow-in-the-dark stars Sora had stuck on the ceiling, way before Roxas was born, and the model spaceships he said he'd made with Riku when they were little. Roxas couldn't imagine Riku ever being little.

Eventually Sora came in. "Go on, Rox, get under the covers. It's bedtime."

"Really?"

"Must be," Sora said. So Roxas wiggled under the blanket, and Sora smoothed it out and tucked him in. Then he turned out the light, singing one of those little songs of his that no one else knew. ". . . tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme. . ." But he didn't get into the bottom bunk.

"Aren't you going to sleep, Sora?"

"In a bit, starfish. Don't worry."

Sora was such a dork. "Don't call me starfish," Roxas mumbled, and closed his eyes.

-o-

When he opened them again, everything was still dark, except for the green-glowing stars on the ceiling. It must have been really late. But as Roxas' eyes got used to the dark, he saw Sora sitting by the window, leaning his elbows on the sill. Sleepy, not saying anything, Roxas climbed down out of bed, went over to Sora, and hugged him.

Sora always hugged back right away, but this time he just looked down at Roxas for a few seconds, like he was surprised, before putting an arm around his brother.

"Sora?" Roxas said muzzily. "Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Homesick," Sora said.

"Huh?"

"Look." Sora pointed out the window. "See that big star, there, the one that looks sort of orange? That's my old home."

If he'd been all the way awake, Roxas would have realized Sora was teasing him, but he just said, "You're an alien?"

Sora snorted a laugh. It didn't sound like the way he usually laughed. "I've been called worse." He was quiet for a while. "I'm Roxas."

Roxas wasn't _that_ sleepy. "Dork. _I'm_ Roxas. If we're both Roxas there's no point."

"No, I'm. . . I'm the old Roxas. Big Roxas, I guess." Roxas peered up at him, and for a second "big Roxas" really did seem to have blond hair, and a not-quite-right face. But that was just the dark, and the starlight, and Roxas' eyes being blurry from sleep.

"It's a pretty star," Roxas mumbled, not really bothering to follow what Sora was saying.

"Yeah. Back there it was the sun, and every morning I'd look out, and see it shining across the town. . . " He looked down at Roxas, whose face was still buried in his ribs. "Go on, go back to bed." But instead of going, Roxas tugged at Sora. Sora sighed - it didn't sound like his sigh - and said, "Okay, fine, here." And he went over with Roxas, and they rolled into the bottom bunk together. Roxas fell asleep again with his face nestled in Sora's pyjama shirt.

-o-

When they woke up, both still in the lower bunk, Sora said, "Why'd you come down here?"

"It was when you were looking at the stars," Roxas said, "and saying those weird things."

Sora gave him a funny look. "I think you had a dream, Rox," he said, and Roxas thought maybe he was right.

-o-

That day Roxas went over to Cecil's and played with his toy boats. Sora went over to Riku's to see him and Kairi.

Riku and Kairi were sort of Roxas' extra big brother and sister. Mom said Sora and Kairi were going to get married someday. But when Roxas asked Dad without Mom around, _he_ said _Riku_ and Kairi were going to get married someday. That made Roxas giggle and say "Well, maybe Riku and Sora will get married," and Dad told him not to talk about things like that.

But anyway, Roxas figured any people who gave each other so many hugs and stuff must love each other, and Kairi said that was right, so he didn't worry about who'd be marrying who.

When Sora came to walk Roxas home from Cecil's, Riku and Kairi came with him. It was nighttime, and there was only a tiny crescent moon, like a hangnail. The stars were really bright, and while they were walking Roxas remembered the dream he'd had last night.

"Hey, guys? Do you think there are, like, other worlds up there? Where people live?"

"No," Riku said.

"Riku, stop it," Sora said. "He's just teasing you, Rox. Of course there are." He wrapped an arm around Kairi's waist. "I bet you'll even see 'em one day."

"Wow!" Roxas looked up at the sky, imagining it. Maybe they'd be like places in Sora's stories. Well, some of them. Bears and rabbits couldn't talk, no matter what world you were on, let alone playing cards. And there were no such things as mermaids. But _some_ of the stories could be real.

While he was watching, he saw a little spark of light, like a moving star. It streaked down through the sky and disappeared. "Look!" he shouted. They all looked, but it was gone. "I saw - I saw a star fall!" There was a silence, and Roxas was afraid they didn't believe him. Who ever heard of stars falling? "Oh, look, there's another one!"

They saw it. "Oh, no," Kairi said. "Sora. . ." Sora didn't answer, he just squeezed Kairi tighter, and with his free hand he grabbed Riku's.

"What's it mean?" Roxas said. "How can the stars fall? Will there be any left?"

"Don't worry, Roxas," Kairi said, "it's not really the stars falling."

"When stars die, they just vanish," Riku added, and the part of Roxas that felt better from what Kairi said vanished too. "There's no light to show it."

"So what is it?" Roxas asked. There were more falling stars now, all over the sky.

"Something broke the walls between the worlds," Sora said. "The pieces are falling down. They glow as they move through the air."

Roxas gave him a look. That sounded like something out of his stories. "Really?" he said doubtfully.

"Come on," Kairi said, "your Mom will be wondering where you are." And they took him home. But they still seemed worried. Outside their house, Sora kissed Kairi, and hugged Riku. While they were hugging, Riku did something that made Sora jump.

"Riku! Ix-nay onay e-thay utt-bay abbing-gray inay ont-fray ofay e-thay opycat-cay." Mom and Dad still thought Roxas didn't know how words were spelled, even though they saw him read, but Sora used Pig Latin now. Roxas knew how it worked, but Sora could do it fast enough that he couldn't understand.

"He didn't see," Riku said, which was true. "Night."

"Good night, Sora, good night Roxas," Kairi said. Then she looked at the sky like she was worried.

"It's okay, Roxas," Sora said as they went inside. "It's happened before, and it turned out okay."

Later, Roxas told Dad that he'd seen falling stars, and what Sora said they meant. "That's just one of your brother's made-up stories," Dad said.

"So what are they?"

"Hmph. You know, if you didn't ask so many questions, Sora wouldn't fool you so often."

"You don't know, do you? How do you _know_ Sora made it up?" What Sora said didn't sound real, but if Dad didn't know. . .

"Don't be silly, son. Go get ready for bed."

-o-

Roxas didn't believe in magic.

Well. . . not _really._ Magic was kid's stuff. Everyone knew it wasn't real.

But there had been this one time, when Roxas was little. He'd been playing with Sora, and he'd fallen down and hit his head. It hurt really bad, and Roxas was dizzy and couldn't get up. He'd cried for Sora.

"Oh, man," Sora'd said. "Um. Uh, close your eyes."

"What?"

"Just close your eyes, okay? And, uh, count to ten." Roxas squeezed his eyes shut and started counting, like they were playing hide-and-seek. He heard Sora whisper something that might have been, "Heal." That made him peek, just a little bit, and he thought he saw green light. He opened his eyes to see better, and it wasn't there. "Okay," Sora said, even though Roxas hadn't gotten to ten yet. "How much does it hurt?"

"Uh. . . it doesn't," Roxas said.

"Good! Uh, I guess it was just a little bump. You're fine."

"Yeah," Roxas said, getting up. He didn't feel dizzy or weak any more, either.

The next time he got hurt, he tried closing his eyes and counting to ten, but it didn't do anything. And there was that green light he thought he saw, and he was little then. So he thought maybe Sora had magic.

If he _did_ have magic, he figured, it must be a secret from everybody, because everybody thought magic wasn't real. So Roxas started following Sora around, trying to see if he did magic when no one was there. He never did, and he got grouchy at Roxas for spying on him. But Roxas still thought, once in a while, that if Sora _did_ have magic, it would mean all his stories were true. If magic was real, then _everything_ must be real. But of course, Roxas didn't believe in magic.

The next weekend after the stars fell, Roxas and Sora and Riku and Kairi were all on the kids' island. Roxas had just got out of the water, and Kairi dropped a towel on his head. "Dry off, so you don't get cold."

It was a hot day, but Roxas rubbed his hair dry. "Where's Sora?"

"Mm? I dunno." Kairi glanced around. "He didn't say. Riku, where's the sunscreen?"

"How should I know?" Riku said. "You know, _we_ never used sunscreen."

"That's because you swam with all your clothes on, which is why you both always swim like you're drowning."

While they were saying this, which Roxas had heard about six billion times before, he wandered off to see where Sora was. He wasn't really trying to catch Sora doing magic. But he was remembering when he had tried, and anyway whatever Sora was doing was probably interesting, unless he was pooping.

"Here it is," Kairi said behind him. "Wait, where's Roxas?"

"There he is. Where you going, shorty?" Riku called Roxas short all the time, and even called Sora short sometimes, because Riku was a million feet tall. From up there, Roxas figured, even other tall people must look short.

"I'm gonna go find Riku."

Kairi sighed. "He's probably in the Secret Place. Leave him alone."

"Nah," Riku said, "he's probably pooping."

Roxas heard a smack, which was probably Kairi hitting Riku on the shoulder. "Just come back here, Roxas, you need your sunscreen."

Roxas looked over his shoulder, stuck out his tongue, and started running.

"Oh, that's it," Riku said. That was bad. Riku could run really fast. But Roxas had a head start, and in the trees it was good to be small because you could fit through better. So he ran as fast as he could, and he shouted "You can't catch me" over his shoulder, which was a bad idea because it probably wasn't true, and then Roxas saw Sora and stopped short. Riku caught up, grabbed him, threw him over his shoulder and started tickling.

"Stop! Stop it!" Roxas shouted, and Riku actually did. He'd seen Sora, too.

There was a thing that looked like a big rock, surrounded by broken trees, in a big round hole like a bowl. But Sora had scooped a big chunk out of it, and had been squeezing it into a square - the stuff wobbled like pudding. And he was using it to build something that looked sort of like the spaceship models in Roxas' bedroom. When it was done, it would be big enough for people to go inside.

"Sora," Riku said. Roxas was still upside down. He picked up his head and looked at his brother.

"Um," Sora said. "Hi guys."

"You were planning to mention this when?" Riku asked.

"Uh. . . soon?"

"Yeah, right," Roxas said. Sora was a bad liar, except for his stories. "You didn't even tell _me!_ How can you keep a spaceship secret from your own brother?"

"You don't get it, Rox," Sora said. "I'm not going for fun."

"Yeah," Riku agreed. He sort of sounded cheerful, but Roxas thought he wasn't really. "It's too dangerous to bring wimps like us. We wouldn't want to help you anyway."

"Riku. . ."

But by then Kairi had caught up. "Sora!" Both Soras flinched.

"Come on, Roxas," Riku said, and started walking away.

"It's not like I've got a choice," Roxas muttered. He was still over Riku's shoulder.

"Riku, wait. . ."

"You stand right there and listen to me, Sora. I can't believe you would try something like this. . ."

"Riku," Roxas said, "What's going on?"

"It's not something you need to worry about, shorty."

That was what grown-ups said when they didn't want to say. Next Riku was going to tell him to go get ready for bed or something. "You talked about how he wasn't going to bring us - you mean that spaceship will actually _work?_"

They had gotten back to the beach. Riku sighed and put Roxas down. "It's not the best design I've ever seen."

"Is that a yes?" Roxas asked. Then he thought about it. "Is that a _sort-of_?" A spaceship that only sort of flew would be bad. "Is Sora going away? Does he not like you guys any more?" The last was the scariest.

"No! I mean, yes, of course he does." Riku sighed. "Look. Sora loves me and Kairi and you and everyone else, and we all love him. He's just being stupid."

Roxas didn't answer for a while. From back in the trees, he heard Kairi shouting, ". . . when I forgot your _name_, I _still_ waited for you! I'm never going through that again. . ."

"Is Sora. . ." Roxas almost couldn't say it, almost couldn't believe it. "Is he going to another world?"

Riku sighed. "He might have to. I think he's right about that. But he's an idiot if he thinks we're not coming." He saw Roxas' face light up. "I meant Kairi and I. You're staying here."

"What? You can't leave me _behind!_"

"You're going to stay where it's safe, Roxas. I wish you'd never found out about the other worlds. You'd be happier."

"I'll. . . I'll tell Mom and Dad! They'll keep Sora in his room! You won't be _able_ to go!"

"They can't stop him."

"Wanna bet?" Roxas started running for the docks. Riku grabbed his arm. It wasn't that tight, it didn't hurt, but Roxas struggled as hard as he could and pried at Riku's fingers, and he couldn't get away. "Let go. Let go!"

"I'm not doing this to be mean. You're too young, Roxas. I mean, we were kids, but you're tiny. You'd get hurt."

"I don't care!"

"I do. Sora does, and so does Kairi and your parents and lots of people. We want to keep you safe, midget. Now sit down." Roxas didn't have a choice. He plopped down in the sand, still angry.

-o-

Eventually Sora and Kairi came down. "Well?" Riku said.

Sora sighed. "I guess I could make the cockpit big enough for three."

"Damn right."

"I just. . . I didn't want anything to happen to you guys, you know?"

Riku stood up, and went over to Sora, and put his thumb on Sora's left collarbone. He let it trace down over Sora's ribs, where he had that scar. Apparently this touch meant something, because Sora gave a lopsided smile, and ran two fingers from the bottom of Riku's spine around to the arch of his left hip. They stared into each other's eyes. Riku leaned forward.

Since they weren't talking, Roxas said, "Can I come?"

"Oh, Rox." Sora sat down beside him and hugged him hard. "Oh, little brother, I wish you could. It would be so awesome. I'd take you to all the places I told you about, introduce you to everyone. I could take you through all the castles. I could teach you to fly."

"But it's too dangerous," Roxas sighed.

"Huh? Who told you that?"

"Riku."

"Well. . . I guess sort of. But there's plenty of safe places out there. You'd be okay." Sora ruffled his hair. "It's just that you've got a job to do here."

"I do?"

"You've gotta take care of Mom and Dad." Roxas blinked. "They won't forget me this time, Roxas. And they won't understand. They. . . they need a Sora around the house."

"Oh."

"If you come with me, we'll come back and find Sora Number Three in our room, and I'll have to sleep on the couch." Roxas couldn't help laughing a little. "So you need to stay here, and keep them happy. But eventually, I'll have a fast ship, and I'll be able to come and get you for a visit, and we can get to Radiant Garden and back in a few hours without Mom and Dad ever knowing."

"Plus," Kairi said, sitting down on Roxas' other side, "I know a trick. You can send Sora a letter in a bottle."

"Give me a break, Kairi," Roxas said. "That doesn't work. Especially not to another world."

"Sure it does. I've done it myself. What you do is, you close the bottle tight, and think about how your heart and Sora's will be connected forever. Then you put it in the water."

"Make sure you do it when the tide's going out," Riku added, "or it'll just wash back."

"Okay, Roxas?" Kairi said.

"Okay," Roxas said quietly.

Sora hugged him again. "I'm gonna miss you."

Roxas was horrified to feel his eyes tearing up. He blinked the salt water away. "Me, too."

"It's not forever, though. I bet it'll only be a couple weeks." Roxas nodded, but he didn't believe it. What happened to "so long that Mom and Dad forgot all about me?"

Roxas tried a smile. "Can I help make the ship?"

-o-

They left that night, just after sundown. Roxas watched the ship take off, engines glowing, like a star falling back up into space. Then he rowed back home, alone, to tell their parents.

-o-

Roxas' dad was done crying by the next day, his mom two days after. Roxas was grounded for a month for not telling them before Sora left, even after he explained that Riku had held him and he couldn't get away. They let him off after a week.

Once Mom and Dad stopped crying, Roxas was amazed at how. . . _normal_ everything was. Their lives just went on. Roxas asked Mom about it. "Well, it's sad," she said, looking only a little sad. "But we're used to it, Sora. He's done this before." On the very first day they let him outside, Roxas sent a letter in a bottle. He didn't just lay it in the sea, he waited until the tide was going out the fastest, and then he _threw _it, as far as he could, way out in the water. It landed with a little splash and bobbed to the surface.

The next day he had school, and then homework, and then chores (with Sora gone, he had more chores than he used to.) And then school the next day, and Cecil and Kain wanted to go swimming that night, and the day after that was school and grocery shopping with Mom, and so on. No bottle washed up on shore with a return letter.

The next weekend he rowed way out into the ocean. Dad said there were fast ocean currents out there running all down the archipelago and then off "who knows where." Roxas threw the bottle with his second letter so hard the little rowboat nearly capsized. It landed with a little splash and bobbed to the surface. Roxas rowed home.

No one ever called him Roxas any more. Big Sora was gone, so there was no way to get confused, and anyway, Sora and Riku and Kairi had been the only ones to do it all the time. Plus, it wasn't even a real name. (The stranger in Sora's body, who'd been homesick for a world with an orange sun, that had been a dream.)

Roxas also decided that the promise to come back and visit with a fast ship had been a false hope. He wondered what Sora was doing. Was he doing magic, maybe, on another world where people believed in it? Was he talking to bears and rabbits and mermaids?

Probably not, Roxas decided. That stuff wasn't real. For a horrible traitor moment he wondered if the three of them had just settled down to live somewhere else, where two boys and a girl could all marry each other and no one would care. No, Sora was going to come back as soon as he could. He'd practically promised.

As soon as he could got longer and longer. Six months after Sora left, Roxas thought of the letters again. He wrote one more, much shorter than the others. He put it in the bottle and tossed it off the dock just after high tide. It landed with a little splash, same as the others, and bobbed to the surface.

A week later, Roxas decided you couldn't really send letters in bottles to other worlds.

School went on, and summer camp, and soccer. He hung out more with Cecil and Kain. He got older. He started thinking of himself as Sora, and he tried not to remember that there were other worlds out there.

Every once in a while, he would wake up late at night, and look out his window at the stars.

-o--o-

Author's Note: If you liked this story, read "Time Left Behind," by Tabitha Dornoc. If there's anything good here, it's because I was trying to write something a little like that story. But you might want to read something funny in between.


End file.
